MY VIEW April 26, 2008 by Commissioner Howard Kessler

Lack of charter could cost Wakulla taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

What would a charter do for Wakulla County, and why is the issue coming up now?

A county charter will head off an enormous threat to our county’s budget from Community Redevelopment Areas (CRAs).  CRAs can be created by either city or county governments, according to state law.  In CRAs, property taxes that go toward countywide projects are frozen as of the date the CRA is created.  Any increases in property taxes after that date can be used solely within the CRA to build infrastructure such as roads, streetlights, and sidewalks.

{sidebar id=1}A charter can give a county the power to choose whether it will participate in a CRA created by a city within its borders.

If Wakulla County does not adopt a charter, all Wakulla taxpayers throughout the county will be forced to pay for services inside every CRA created by the City of St. Marks or the City of Sopchoppy, such as law enforcement, fire protection and EMS.  As the CRA’s population grows, the new property tax dollars generated by that growth would not go to the county.  Those new tax dollars would stay in the CRA yet the county would have to pay for those additional services.  Without a charter, Wakulla County has absolutely no control over CRAs created by the two cities within its borders, and it loses control over those tax dollars.

In other words, Wakulla County taxpayers will be forced to subsidize services in CRAs created by the two cities of St Marks and Sopchoppy.

Right now the City of St. Marks has made what it calls a “done deal” creating a CRA to revitalize its run-down areas.  The City of St. Marks has not so much as sent a postcard about it to Wakulla County.

Ideally, cities and counties cooperate to create Community Redevelopment Areas (CRAs), but that’s not what’s happening in Wakulla County.  According to the April 24 Wakulla News, "Comparing the matter to a horse race, St. Marks Mayor Steve Dunbar said last week that the city is rounding the last bend of the track while the county isn't even out of the starting gate."

If we do not adopt a charter, St. Marks could siphon away from Wakulla County tens of millions of dollars over the next 30 years for services and projects that will only benefit a small sector of our population.

I believe that St. Marks has the right to better itself, but I also believe that working cooperatively with our county government is the better way to go.  Surely the officials in St. Marks want to respect all of us in the county, and, more importantly, not ask that families outside their city pay millions for St. Marks’ projects.

To protect our county’s present and future financial health, we all need to work toward adopting a charter that reflects our values and priorities.  Getting Wakulla County chartered is in the county’s best interest.

On May 5, the Wakulla County Commission can take an important step to give citizens that opportunity.  Commissioners will decide whether to allow us to vote on a charter for Wakulla County.

If a majority of voters approves a charter in November, we will ensure that our basic local needs are met – courts, law enforcement, tax collection and elections – and we would also have a voice in deciding on services critical to our beautiful rural county.  A charter will help to ensure that the county can afford to pay its constitutional officers and other employees in the future.  Wakulla County voters would be able to change the charter by referendum, an option we do not have today.

Approving a charter now would guarantee this for generations to come.  To delay could be catastrophic.  This chance may never come our way again.

You can read the state law (Chapter 163.330-163.463) at www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/ .

hkessler@mywakulla.com

These comments originally pubilshed on May 1, 2008.

 

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

Comments (0)

You must be logged in to post a comment.